Thermostatic attachment for steam-valves.



W. E. TILLINGHAST.

THERMOSTATIU ATTACHMENT FOR STEAM VALVES.

fXPPLIGATION FILED NOV. 11, 1912.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913 1 ,z 'q /6 i 6 if, A H

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kzfveasaa- 8/ -msurni) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALLACE E. TILLINGHAST, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

THERMosTATIc ATTACHMENT FOR STEAM-VALVES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 11, 1912.Serial No. 730,607.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE E. TILLING- HAST, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident of Worcester, county of Worcester, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Thermostatic Attachmentsfor Steam-Valves, of whichthe following description, in connection withthe accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letterson thedrawings representing like parts.

My invent-ion is a thermostatic attachment applicable to practically allkinds of steam valves and particularly intended for radiator valves.

Various more or less complicated thermostatic attachments haveheretofore been provided and suggested, entailing a .correspondingexpense in their purchase and operation, and it is one of the principalobjects of my invention to eliminate the mess sity of providing aspecial valve, while at the same time gaining the chief advantagesthereof. Tothis end I have devised the hereinafter described attachmenthaving such form" and construction that it can be readily applied to theordinary steam valves as they are commonly found in use.

Further advantages of my invention reside in providing a liquidthermostatic element so arranged that all the steam and Water ofcondensation which passes through the valve comes into directcontactthere with, thereby giving the thermostatic closing device theutmost sensitiveness and responsiveness. The liquid is hermeticallysealed against possible escape or evaporation and yet is confinedentlrely in the at-.

tachment as distinct from being wholly or partly dependent upon thevalve proper and is so housed as todoe entirely protected from injury.

A, further feature resides 'in having the adjustment of the attachmententirely on rior parts and surfaces.

the outsideof the apparatus so that it is unnecessary to dismembereither the valve or the attachment in order to adjust the latter to anytemperature of return condensation desired. Also the construction issuch as to facilitate the ready cleaning of its inte- The thermostaticelement is preferably in the form of'a liquid' carrying tube or longstem provided with'the closing member of the valve adjacent its lowerend and opening into the pressure chamber at its upper end, prefer: ablyabove the valve proper, said tube or stem being yieldingly supported bythe bottom surface of said chamber or directly connected thereto so asto be moved positively in response to the variations in pressure withinsaid chamber.

In the drawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of myinvention,Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of my attachmentapplied inoperative position to a usual radiator valve; and Fig. 2 is aview of the attachment in side elevation, partly broken away forclearness of illustration.

The attachment proper consists of 9. casing 1 having a' itop or chambercover 2 at its upper end between which is supported or clamped a movablemember herein shown as a sheet metal diaphragm 3 to which is centrallyattached a tube or long depending stem 4 having adjacent its lower end avalve or valve seat 5. The lower end of the easing 1 is threaded asindicated at 6 to fit the usual threaded gland opqening commonly foundin radiator valves and the like, such;

as the "alve 7 where the ordinary bonnet and stem are usually mounted.The cover cap or top 2 is shown as dome shaped for providing a pressurechamber 8 between 1t and the I diaphragm 3 and the latter is clampedperipherally between the peripheral edges of the'upper. end of thecasing and said cover cap and dome 2 by any suit-- able means as by aseries of bolts 9. The hollow stem or thermostatic tube 4 has a threadedupper end 10 to permit of its being readily secured. in properadjustment centrally of the diaphragm 3 by means of opposite nuts 11, 12and is further held Patented Mar. 4, 1913. s

properly centered by-a spring 13 surroun.d-

mg the upper end of the stem 4 between the nut 11 and the adjacent innersurface of the casing at the shoulder 14 thereof.

The casing preferably has a size affording a small annular passage 15between it and the stem. A filling plug 16 is provided in the cover cap2 for filling the tube and chamber with the proper amount of fillinliquid 17. The thermostatic medium 1 may be of any volatile fluid, as,for instance, .bi-sulfid of carbon or a combination of ether andnaphtha, or in fact, any substance that sence of said maximumtemperature.

will volatilize so as to expand into the chamber 8 suiiiciently tooperate the diaphragm 3 and stem 4 so as to close the valve 5 in thepresence of the predetermined maximum temperature, and release saidvalve 5 and permit it to open in the ab- An air port or vent 18 isprovided in the valve seat 5 to prevent the valve from becoming sealed,when closed, by the suction from th return pump of the circulationsystem. The adjustment of the attachment is regulated by an externallocknut 19 on the threaded end 6 of the casing, just above the body 20 ofthe valve.

\Vhile I have described my invention in its preferred details and haveshown that em bodiment which I have found to be very practicable formost forms of steam valves, it will be understood that I am notrestricted to the constructional details herein presented, as myinvention is capable of a wide variety of embodiments without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, considered in its broaderaspects.

In use, let it be supposed that my attachment is to be applied to theordinary steam radiator valve. The usual bonnet and valve stem arescrewed out from the valve body 20 and the threaded end 6 of myattachment is mounted in place thereof, being adjusted to exactly theright height by the look nut 19. Since the relatively thin walled stemor thermostatic tube 4: extends down into the valve directly in the pathof all the steam and water of condensation which must flow through saidvalve, it will be-evident that this relatively long and sensitive membermust be brought under the direct influence of said steam and water ofcondensation under such conditions as to have the utmost responsiveness.Not only does the relatively long and thin walled stem afford the steama maximum of contact, but the stem extends down into the valve andpreferably below the valve seat into the outlet opening 21 of the steamvalve so that the volatile fluid 17 is sure to be volatilized at theproper moment. As the liquid 17 is thus volatilized or raised intemperature, it increases the pressure in the pressure chamber 8 untilthe diaphragm 3 which constitutes the lower wall of said chamber isthereby depressed, carrying with it the stem 4 until the valve seat 5seats firmly against the cooperating seat 22 of the steam valve, therebyshutting off further passage of steam. The spring 13 is provided of suchextent that when the valve 5 is seated it will be entirely collapsed,thereby offering a solid support or resistance to the nut or head 11 ofthe valve stem 4 so as to resist any further possible movement of thevalve stem and its diaphragm 3 which might otherwise tend to destroy thediaphragm 3 or buckle it so that it could not recover itself. This isthe main function of said spring 13.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my apparatus is notonly simple in its parts and inexpensive in its construction, but thatit can be readily applied to practically any shape or type of valvebody. By having the attachment controlled externally by suitableadjusting means as by the lock nut 19, the valve seat 5 may be instantlyadjusted with the utmost accuracy without opening the steam valve ordiso-rganizing any of the parts. I consider this provision for externaladjustment of considerable advantage, whereby the ordinary house holderor user of the attachment may readily adjust the thermostat to anytemperature of return condensation or steam heat desired, simply byloosening the lock nut 19 and then turning the attachment up or down tothe extent required and again tightening the lock nut. The thermostaticfluid 17 is not intended to escape in any way, but if for any reason itshould become depleted, a fresh supply is readily provided through thefilling opening simply by removing the filling plug 16, withoutdisturbing in any way the steam valve or attachment. So in case theattachment should for any reason need cleaning, this may be readily doneby simply tak ing olf the top 2, thereby exposing all the fluid affectedsurfaces so that they may be quickly and readily cleaned. I prefer tohave the valve seats formed as fiat surfaces, as I have found thisconstruction most efiicicnt. The valve stem normally depends in suchcentering position as properly to aline these valve seats, but as it issupported by the relatively flexible diaphragm it is obvious that itwill automatically adjust itself to such slight extent as may benecessary. The annular passage 15 permits the valve .stem to have suchlimited lateral movement as may be required, as well as alfording a freepassage for the surrounding air and steam, as is desirable forcounterbalancing the diaphragm to some extent.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingmounted externally of the steam valve and having provision for apressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, adiaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressurechamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured tosaid diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extendingout of said casinginto said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through thelatter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure insaid pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valveseat in operative relation to the cooperative valve-seat of the steamvalve and to said stem to be operated by the latter. g

2. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingmounted externally of the steam valve and having provi-t sion for apressure chamber insaid casing, also externally of said valve, adiaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressurechamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured tosaid diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said casinginto said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through thelatter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure insaid pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valveseat in operative relation to the cooperative valve-seat of the steamvalve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, the freeend of saidhollow stem extending beyond both of said valve seats and into theoutlet passage of the steam valve for rendering the valve stem extremely sensitive to the passage of steam.

3. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingmounted externally of the steam valve and having pro vision for apressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, adiaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressurechamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured tosaid diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said casinginto said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through thelatter, a volatile fluid in said -hol1ow stem for varying the pressurein said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and avalve seat in operative relationto the cooperative valve-seat of thesteam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, said casinghaving a reduced portion between the steam valve and said pressurechamber surrounding said hollow stem and affording a small annularassage around thestem to said "diaphragm or per-" mitting direct accessof the steam heat to the entire length of said stem.

4. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingmounted externally of the steam valve and having provision for apressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, adiaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressurechamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured tosaid diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said easinginto said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through thelatter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure insaid pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valveseat in operative re lation to the cooperative valve-seat of the 1 steamvalve and to said stem'to steam valve and to said stem to be operated bythe latter, said casing having a reduced portion between the steam valveand said pressure chamber surrounding said hollow stem and aflording asmall annular passage around the stem to said diaphragm for permittingdirect access of the steam heat to the entire length of said stem, saidcasing terminating in a flattened dome-shaped outer end having aremovable cover cap for securing said diaphragm and forming theoutermost side of said pressure chamber.

5. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingprovided with external mounting and adjusting means for securing it tothe valve and having provision for a pressure chamber therein externallyof said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one sideofsaid pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamberand secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stein extendingwithin said casing into said valve in the normal path of the steamthrough the latter, a volatile fluid in-said hollow stem for varying thepressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm,and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperative valve seat ofthe be operated by the latter. I

6. A thermostatic attachmentfor a steam valve, comprising a casingprovided with external mounting'and adjusting means for securmg it tothe valve and having provi-' sion for a pressure chamber thereinexternally of said valve, a dlaphragm secured across said casing to formone side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into saidchamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stemextending within said casing into said valve in the normal path of thesteam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem forvarying the pressurein said pressure chamber and thereby operating thediaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperativevalve seat of the steam valve and to said stem to be operated by thelatter, said valve seat containing.an air vent aflording limitedpassage, for the steam and airwhen the valve is closed.

7. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casingprovided with external mounting and adjusting means for securing it tothe valve and having provision for a pressure chamber therein externallyof said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one sideof said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamberand secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extendingwithin said easing into said valve in the normal path of the steamthrough the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying thepressure in said 'presslire In testimony whereof, I have signed mychamber and thereby operating the dianame to this specification, in thepresence '10 phragm, a valve seat in operative relation of tWosubscribing Witnesses.

to the cooperative valve seat of the steam valve and tosaid stem to beoperated by the VVALLAGE TILLINGHAST latter, and a spring stop betweensaid dia- Witnesses:

phragm and casing for positively limiting GEO. H. MAXWELL,

the expanding movement of the diaphragm. EDWARD MAXWELL.

